president: mr. l. h. khan editor: dr. kanyakumari datta vo...

President: Mr. L. H. Khan Editor: Dr. Kanyakumari Datta

Vo. No. 54, No. 1, Tuesday: 4th

July 2017

1

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT’S

MESSAGE

Ring in the new and ring out the old. That

is the way of life and the Rotary is no

exception. On 1st of July, we start our

brand new year.

The beginning of our last year was

eventful and difficult. We had spent our

energy on unproductive matters and,

temporarily ,lost our focus. But once again

the Rotary Club of South Calcutta rose to

the occasion and proved that no individual

is bigger than this 55 year old Club. With

resolve, we crossed all the hurdles and I

am grateful to the members for their

support and co-operation. Two names

come to mind very much in this respect -

one is Rtn. Amit Kumar Sen, the oldest

stalwart of the Club and the other is Rtn.

Nirmal Kumar Bandyopadhyay who is

shaping up to be another stalwart of the

Club.

I wish my successor Rtn. Lekat Hossain

Khan a wonderful and and productive

Rotary Year . With the support of his

team, he will bring back a lot of laurles to

this old Club. We assure him that he well

get our total support.

Asok Kumar Dasgupta,

01.07.2017.

HISTORY OF OUR CLUB & THE

NEW CLUB TEAM 2017-18

Rotary Club of South Calcutta was formed

on 19th February 1962 at the initiative of

late Dr. Triguna Sen and late Dr. Ananda

Mohan Dutta with 27 members.

Our Charter President Dr. Triguna Sen

Club Charter was granted on 16th

September 1963 and the Club was

formally inaugurated by PDG Saral Deb

and the Charter presented by PDG Hemen

Ganguly in the presence of RI President

Late Rtn. N. C. Laharry on 30th November

1963.

Medical Camp organised by our Club at

Mathbishnupur

In 1999, the Club moved to its own

building at 114B, Prince Anwar Shah



July 2017

2

Road, Kolkata – 700045 from where it has

continued to operate ever since.

Starting with small service projects like

medical examination of school children,

providing books and scholarships to

school and college students, vocational

seminars, the Rotary Club of South

Calcutta has come a long way to provide

today medical diagnostic services to the

under-privileged, annual health camp,

cervical screening for cancer etc. on a

regular and sustainable basis, besides heart

surgeries for children and completing a

long term project for Intra Ocular Lens

Implant (altogether 793 patients were

treated) under matching grant scheme.

The Club also has the proud privilege of

producing three outstanding District

Governors of Rotary – Late PDG Rtn.

Prabhat Kr. Sinha, Late PDG Rtn. Kodi

Kr. Navada and PDG Anjan Kumar who

continues to be actively involved in Club

affairs.

The Club has the rare distinction of

having its own three storied building

which houses the Diagnostic Centre on the

first floor and an air-conditioned

auditorium with audio- visual support for

meetings on the second floor. Club

members meet here every Tuesday for the

weekly meeting.

THE INCOMING OFFICE BEARERS

FOR 2017-18

President:

Mr. Liakat Hossain Khan

Immediate Past President:

Mr. Asok Kumar Dasgupta

President Elect:

Dr. Rajat Ananda Gopal Mukherjee

Vice-President:

Rtn. Dr. Ruma Das

Secretary:

Mr. Arijit Lahiri

Treasurer:

Mr. Nirmal Kumar Bandopadhyay

Editor:

Dr. Kanyakumari Datta

Club Trainer:

Mr. Debapriya Roy

Seargeant-at-Arms:

Sk. Mujibar Rahaman

Chairmen Standing Committees:

Membership: Mr. Amit Kumar Sen

Public relations: Mr. Sailendra Saha

Literacy: to be decided.

Club Administration:

Mr.Prabhat Bhattmishra

Serviceprojects:Mrs. Lipi Roy Chowdhury

Rotary Foundation: Mr. Chittaranjan Addy

Polio Chair: Mr. Arun Kumar Misra



July 2017

3

MINUTES OF THE 2420TH REGULAR

WEEKLY MEETING OF THE ROTARY

CLUB OF SOUTH CALCUTTA HELD

ON TUESDAY, THE 27TH JUNE , 2017

AT 7 PM, AT 114B, PRINCE ANWAR

SHAH ROAD, KOLKATA-700045.

President Asok Kumar Dasgupta called the

2420th Regular Weekly Meeting to order.

National Anthem was jointly sung by all

the members .

President mentioned that on the Lamp of

20th June.2017., there was a bio-data of

Dr. Pranob Choudhury. If there was no

objection to his candidature , he would be

inducted on 4th July.

President once again reminded the

President Elect to take care of all the nitty

gritty aspects of the installation of 4th

July. PE Rtn. Lekat Hossain Khan assured

that he would personally speak to every

Rotarian to make sure that there would be

good attendance on the installation day.

PP Rtn. Prabhat Bhattamishra was due to

speak on Paper Industry but because of

poor attendance, Rtn. Bhattamishra’s talk

was postponed to a future date.

President was a given a cheque drawn in

favour of Rotary Foundation India as a

contribution of Rs. 10,000.00 of the Rotary

Club of South Calcutta to the Foundation.

President expected that the Lamp of the

next Rotary Year would be of good quality

as the editor would be a computer savvy

person i.e., Rtn Dr, Kanyakumari Dutta.

President repeated his request to the

members that they should turn up with

their spouses on the installation day to give

a good account of the Club. He wished a

very successful 2017-18 to PE Rtn. Khan.

Minutes of the 2419th Regular Weekly

Meeting was confirmed and, as there was

no other business , the President

terminated the meeting.

ATOP MT. EVANS THROUGH THE

HIGHEST PAVED MOTORABLE ROAD

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

14 SEPTEMBER 2015. Picture Courtsey

Rtn. Dr. Kanyakumari Datta


Vol. No. 54, No. 2, Tuesday: 11th

July 2017

1

HIGHLIGHT OF ALTANTA

CONVENTION: ROTARY & BILL

GATES FOUNDATION COMMIT

$450 TO END POLIO

ATLANTA -- Bill Gates was in Atlanta on

Monday, 12 June 2017, announcing at the

Rotary International convention that his

foundation and Rotary are making a $450

million commitment to wipe out polio.

To an audience of nearly 40,000 Rotary

members attending the humanitarian

organization’s annual convention – this

year in Atlanta – Rotary and the Bill &

Melinda Gates Foundation renewed their

longstanding support for ending the

disease.

Bill Gates speaking at Atlanta Rotary

Convention

Rotary committed to raise $50 million per

year over the next three years, with every

dollar to be matched with two additional

dollars from the Gates Foundation. This

expanded agreement will translate into

$450 million for polio eradication

activities.

“The vision of eradicating polio began

with Rotary, and its support of that effort

has been unwavering for more than 35

years,” said Gates. “Rotary’s commitment

to raise $150 million over the next three

years to end polio forever is a testament to

the compassion, generosity, and kindness

of more than a million Rotarians around

the world.

XPRIZE TABLETS COULD

REPLACE TEACHERS IN

TANZANIA

Could XPrize tablets replace teachers in

Tanzania? An estimated 250 million

children around the world cannot read,

write, or demonstrate basic arithmetic

skills.

Many of these children are in developing

countries without regular access to quality

schools or teachers. The Global Learning

XPrize is a challenge to teams around the

world to develop software and apps for

tablets that could help youngsters learn

basic skills. Last month, 11 semi-finalists

were chosen from nearly 200 teams to

move forward into the next stage of the

competition. Each team must create

software that allows children to learn on

their own. BBC Click's Dan Simmons has

been to one of the 150 villages in northern

Tanzania selected to test the different

tablet apps.

The XPRIZE Foundation with the United

Nations’ Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the

World Food Programme (WFP) today

announced a new partnership for the

The Lamp, Rotary Club of South Calcutta, Rotary Dist. 3291

Vol. No. 54, No. 2, Tuesday: 11th July 2017

2

US$15 Million Global Learning XPRIZE

– a five-year competition challenging

teams to develop open-source software

that will enable children with limited

access to schooling to teach themselves

basic reading, writing and arithmetic.

XPRIZE, a non-profit organization, is the

world’s leader in designing and managing

incentive prize competitions for the benefit

of humanity.

The partnership was marked with the

announcement of Tanzania as the host

country for the competition. Google has

donated 8,000 Pixel C tablets for the

competition’s testing phase set to begin in

September 2017.

Children in Tanzania using Tablets to learn.

Currently, there are 136 teams from 33

countries developing education technology

solutions. The top five finalist teams will

each receive US$1 million and their

software will be field tested in Tanga and

Arusha regions. An estimated 4,000

children across 200 villages will

participate in the 18-month field test, each

of whom will receive a donated tablet. The

team whose solution enables the greatest

proficiency gains in reading, writing and

arithmetic will receive the grand prize of

US$10 million. At the end of the

competition, all five solutions will be

released as open source, free for anyone to

use and adapt.

UNESCO will lead the educational aspects

of the field test in collaboration with the

Ministry of Education and Vocational

Training (MOEVT) and the Prime

Minister’s Office Regional Authority and

Local Government (PMO RALG).

“We are thrilled to embark on the testing

phase of the Global Learning XPRIZE

with UNESCO and WFP,” said Matt

Keller, senior director of the Global

Learning XPRIZE. “The testing phase is

highly critical to the success of the prize.

We hope the competition will yield

transformative learning results within

these villages and pave the way for every

child on Earth to access a world-class

education in the palm of her hand.”

UNESCO sees this as an opportunity to

strengthen the capacities of the education

national authorities to address the needs of

3.5 million of out of school children in the

country and contribute to worldwide

solution for the 60 million out of school

children.

WFP will manage logistics and

Information and Communications

Technology (ICT) aspects of the field test,

including installing solar power charging

stations for the tablets. The solar panels

will not only be used to charge the tablets,

but will be available for community use.

“WFP is incredibly excited to help ‘bring

to life’ literacy for people who might not

have access to formal education,” said

WFP Tanzania Country Representative

Richard Ragan. “As one of XPRIZE's

partners in Tanzania, we hope to create

something that transforms the way the

world understands education.”

The Global Learning XPRIZE was first

announced during the UN General

Assembly week in 2014: as the Closing

Keynote session of the Clinton Global

Initiative’s annual meeting with XPRIZE



3

founder and executive chairman Peter

Diamandis and President Clinton, and at a

special ceremony with Keller and the

UN’s Special Envoy for Global Education,

former UK Prime Minister, Gordon

Brown.

The competition is funded by a group of

donors including the Dick & Betsy DeVos

Foundation, the Anthony Robbins

Foundation, the Econet Foundation, the

Merkin Family Foundation, Scott Hassan,

John Raymonds and Suzanne West.

The XPRIZE initiative in Tanzania will be

launched by the Hon. Minister of

Education, Science and Technology, Prof.

Joyce Ndalichako, and witnessed by senior

level education officials as well as

XPRIZE, UNESCO and WFP

representatives.

Reference: BBC News & Xprize

Foundation.

MINUTES OF THE 58TH

INSTALLATION MEETING AND

2420TH

RWM OF THE ROTARY

CLUB OF SOUTH CALCUTTA HELD

ON TUESDAY, THE 4TH

JULY, 2017

AT P. A. SHAH ROAD, KOLKATA.

The 58th

meeting of the Rotary Club of

South Calcutta coincided with 2420

regular weekly meeting of the Rotary Club

of South Calcutta. President Rtn. Asok

called the meeting to order and the

National Anthem was sang by PP Rtn.

Prabhat Mitter. President Asok welcome

the Chief Guest of the day, PDG Rtn.

Pinaki Prasad Ghosh, other District

Officials, President and the Members of

the Inner Wheel Club and other

distinguished guests present.

President Rtn. Asok gave an account of the

activities of the club in the absence of the

Secretary, Rtn. Debapriya Roy. Thereafter

he installed incoming President Rtn.

Liakat Hussain Khan. On taking over from

PP Rtn. Asok, Rtn. Khan thanked all the

members of the Rotary Club of South

Calcutta for electing him President of the

club and confirmed his vow to follow this

year’s motto - Rotary Making a

Difference. Thereafter he introduced

members of his team. Thereafter he

requested PDG Rtn. Pinaki Prasad Ghosh

to address the members of the club.

PDG Rtn. Pinaki Prasad Ghosh in his

speech asked all the members to follow

this year’s motto. He said specific funding

is available for the following:

GLOBAL GRANT PROJECTS OF RID

3291, RY 17-18.

1. Low Cost Toilets

2. Cycle Van Rickshaws

3. IOL

4. Wins

DISTRICT GRANT

1. Child Heart Surgery

2. Sanitary Napkin vending Machine

DISTRICT SUPPORTED PROJECTS RY

2017-18, RID 3291

1. School Bags

2. Blankets

3. Mosquito Nets

4. 1st July Health Check Up Camp at

Metro Rly. Station

PROJECTS SUGGESTED BY RI

PRESIDENT ELECT IAN H. S.

RISELEY

1. Plantation of Trees (Minimum

Trees as per club strength)

Period of Plantation 1st July’17 to

21st April’18.

2. Celebration of Earth Day 22nd

April,

2018.



4

He requested the President to take up the

projects on the above and said he will see

the funding.

President thanked to PDG Rtn. Pinaki

Prasad Ghosh for his inspiring speech and

requested the district officials, the

members of the Inner Wheel Club of South

Calcutta to address the gathering, if they

so wish. Since there was no speaker the

President confirmed the Minutes of the

2419th

regular weekly meeting of the

Rotary Club of South Calcutta. The

President requested President elect Rtn.

Dr. Rajat Mukherjee to propose a vote of

thanks to the Chief Guest and other

dignitaries present.

Rtn. Dr. Mukherjee gave a hearty vote of

thanks to the Chief Guest, outgoing

President and all the dignitaries present.

Thereafter the President terminated the

meeting and requested all the members to

join for dinner and drinks.

==============================

ROTARY CLUB OF THIMPU

With the help of a common friend

Dr. Susan Bean, we got introduced to

Mr. Yeshey Dorji of Rotary Club of

Thimpu. Health, education and food self-

sufficiency are the core areas of their

focus. Alleviation of poverty, empowering

people through education and life skills,

and providing services to improve health

and wellbeing of the people of Bhutan are

central to the service projects they aspire

to render, in their efforts to enable

happiness and progress. We are welcome

to join hands with them for community

projects. Their webpage is

www.rotarybhutan.org

Rtn. Dr. Kanyakumari Datta

Rotary Club of Thimpu : Serving the people of

Bhutan

http://www.rotarybhutan.org/



July 2017

1

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE

CHAMPION: ROGER FEDERER

Roger Federer created yet another record

by winning the Wimbledon 2017 men’s

singles title on this Sunday. We give him a

tribute by highliting the other humanitarian

side of this tennis star.

Roger Federer created history by winning the

Wimbledon 2017 men’s singles title for the 8th

time.

Roger Federer’s chosen charity is

empowering children through education.

In 2003, he established the Roger Federer

Foundation to help disadvantaged children

and to promote their access to education

and sports. In his own words, Roger says

“I believe in the power of people. They

might only need some initial

empowerment. We know that a good

education empowers children by allowing

them to take their future into their own

hands and play an active part in shaping it.

And we trust in the best will of parents that

they want to ensure the best possible

opportunities for their children. For more

than 12 years my Foundation has therefore

been committed to enable parents and

local communities in providing these

children with the opportunity for a good

education. We aim to reach a million

children by 2018.”

The Roger Federer Foundation supports

educational projects located in the region

of southern Africa and Switzerland. The

programmes on the African continent

focus on the improvement of the quality of

early learning and basic education and in

Switzerland on the promotion of extra-

curricular activities for children affected

by poverty. All activities are realised and

implemented by local non-governmental

authorities in close collaboration with the

local communities. In order to evaluate the

impact, they measure the changes in the

levels of supported children's performance,

rate repetitions, absences or enrolment

rates.

In celebrating its tenth anniversary, the

Roger Federer Foundation has set itself an

ambitious goal. By 2018, they aim to

support one million children in receiving

access to education of a convincing

quality. The barometer below reflects the

progress towards this goal. Each child

receiving education at an institution

supported by the Foundation will only be

counted once in the process.

Nolonwabo Batini, a 15-year-old girl from

Ndzondelelo High School in Port

Elizabeth, South Africa, made this self-

confident discovery when Roger visited

her school. Her conviction became the



2

vision and the central theme of the Roger

Federer Foundation.

The Roger Federer Foundation enhances a

world where children living in poverty are

able to take control of their future and

actively shape it. They wish to empower as

many African children as possible through

access to high-quality early learning and

education. The Foundation aims to

further develop existing educational

services and early support in a sustainable

way. Although access to primary

education has significantly increased in

recent years, fundamental problems such

as low classroom performance, poor

attendance, high numbers of drop-outs and

low school completion rates still persist, as

well as a lack of early childhood

education. The quality of early support and

basic education is crucial as it is the

foundation of all learning.

Roger away from the tennis court.

The Roger Federer Foundation’s strategic

priority is the assistance of already

existing but essentially insufficient support

services, in early childhood care centres,

preschools and primary schools for

children between 3 and 12 years of age as

well as the improvement of their efficiency

and effectiveness. In Switzerland we

promote under-privileged children in their

recreational activities.

They believe in the potential of all people

and do everything possible to empower

them to improve their situations on their

own. As a consequence, the Roger Federer

Foundation only works with carefully

selected local organisations in long-term

partnerships. They support the

development of skills and ensure that the

community accepts responsibility in

solving its problems. They do not deliver

equipment to people but empower them to

organise resources needed on their own.

The Foundation follows this approach

strictly because they truly believe that this

is the only way to achieve sustainable

systemic change and resultant

improvement of the situation. In order to

be both cost-efficient and cost-effective

they limit their engagement to one region

in Africa and are conducting programmes

in six countries in southern Africa as well

as Switzerland.

Roger visits early learning programme in

Switzaerland.

The Roger Federer Foundation is a

professionally-managed grant foundation

which is committed to the rules of the

Swiss Foundation Code.

Children currently benefiting from Roger

Federer Foundation



3

The organisation strictly follows a system

of checks and balances and an efficient

project management cycle. Transparency,

measurability and evaluation of the

activities are fundamental. As a learning

institution, the Foundation seeks the

advice of experts and stakeholders and is a

member of SwissFoundations, an

association of Swiss grant foundations.

Reference:

www.rogerfederationfoundation.org

ADULT LITERACY BY ROTARY

INDIA LITERACY MISSION (RILM)

EDUCATING 100,000 ADULT NON-

LITERATES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

IN INDIA IN 2016 - 17.

According to a UNESCO Report of 2013-

14 India has by far the largest population

of illiterate adults, amounting to 37 % of

the global total.

THE ADULT LITERACY PROGRAM

Our aim is to indentify adult (15+years)

non-literate person in both rural and urban

areas, and impart basic literacy to them

through.

♦ Qualified & trained volunteers♦ Using

available primers and where ever feasible

E-learning modules♦ Adult Literacy

Centres

Provide opportunities for continuing

education to such neo-literates and impart

skill development training to them

leveraging available government

assistance.

ACTIVITIES UNDER THE PROGRAM

1. DIKSHA

In this approach student-volunteers from

schools/colleges are engaged in providing

functional literacy classes to non-literate

adults (15+ age) over a period of 45-60

days. The learners are advised to appear

for the NIOS examination at the end of the

project, which takes place in March and

August every year. On clearing the

examination the learners are certified as

functionally literate.

The examinations are conducted through:

♦ National Literacy Mission Authority

(NLMA) in collaboration with National

Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) -

India♦ State Literacy Mission Authority

(SLMA) in collaboration with State

Resource Center (SRC) - State.

Each-one-Reach-one-Teach-one

2. SWABHIMAAN – Dignity Through

Education :

Swabhimaan envisions setting up of Adult

Literacy Centres (ALC) in both rural and

urban areas in a centralized location to

impart functional literacy to non-literate

adults (15+ years). Maximum 30 learners

can be enrolled per batch and multiple



4

batches can run in one ALC. The main

resource for this intervention is the

teacher, who has the sole responsibility of

coordinating the project, tracking and

reporting the progress of the learners. It

can directly be implemented by Clubs or

by NGOs identified by Clubs and/or

RILMO.

3. ACHIEVEMENTS

Under the Adult Literacy program 69,681

adults have been made literate through

Diksha and Swabhimaan.

MINUTES OF THE 2421ST

REGULAR

WEEKLY MEETING

OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF SOUTH

CALCUTTA, 11th

July 2017

The 2421st Regular Weekly Meeting of the

Rotary Club of South Calcutta held on

Tuesday, 11th

July at 7 p.m. President Rtn.

Khan called the meeting to order and

requested everybody to sing National

Anthem together.

Thereafter President thanked all the

members for their gracious presence in the

installation meeting along with their

spouses. The members in general

appreciated the installation meeting and its

arrangements. The President also thanked

incoming President Rtn. Dr. Rajat

Mukherjee for excellent dinner.

The President was very happy to inform

the members that the patient, sponsored by

the club to undergo the heart surgery, is

perfectly ok. She was present with her

mother.

In the general discussion PE Dr. Rtn. Rajat

Mukherjee and PP Rtn, Subrata Ghosh

requested the President to start the project

for cleanliness and plantation. President

Khan suggested that we should first clean

our club-wall then start looking elsewhere.

The President thereafter confirmed the

minutes of the 2420th

meeting held on 4th

July. Thereafter he terminated the meeting.

Miss Munmum Munda, a 13 year old girl

along with her mother visiting our club. She

underwent heart surgery at AMRI hospital on

4th May 2017. Our Club helped her reach out

to the timely medical assistance.



July 2017

1

THE HISTORY & THE MEANING OF

THE ROTARY WHEEL

A wheel has been the symbol of Rotary

since our earliest days. The first design

was made (1905) by Chicago Rotarian

Montague Bear, an engraver who drew a

simple wagon wheel, with a few lines to

show dust and motion. The wheel was said

to illustrate "Civilization, Movement and

Service work in action." Most of the early

clubs had some form of wagon wheel on

their publications and letterheads.

The Rotary Wheel through the ages.

In 1922, it was decided that all Rotary

clubs should adopt a single design as the

exclusive emblem of Rotarians. So, the

present gear wheel, with 24 teeth and six

spokes was adopted by the "Rotary

International Association." The gear teeth

around the outside represent the fact that

work is to be done. The six spokes

represent the inner direction and path of

our Vocational Service, through the

representation of our membership via the

classification system. Similarly, these

same spokes represent an outward

distribution path of Rotary's ideals of

service and the Four Way Test… going out

toward the community, vocations and

businesses that our members represent.

A group of engineers advised that the

geared wheel was mechanically unsound

and would not work without a "keyway" in

the center of the gear to attach it to a

power shaft. So, in 1923 the keyway was

added to signify the wheel was a "worker

and not an idler". The keyway in the center

of the hub is of great significance, because

it represents the individual Rotarian

member, who is the key factor in every

club. Quality members are the keys,

needed for the hub to engage with the shaft

and turn, putting the energy into motion

and creating the power for the gears to do

their work.

At the 1929 Rotary International

Convention, it was determined that blue

and gold would be the official colors of the

organization, so the wheel was designed

with these colors. The four blue bands

within the outer radius of the gear

represent our four avenues of service. And

the design which we now know was

formally adopted as the official Rotary

International emblem.

The Rotary wheel is also referred to as

"The Mark of Excellence".

Paul Harris Fellow and Society pins,

Rotary Fellowship pins, Rotary

International theme pins, Rotary District

pins, Rotaract and Interact pins, and the

Rotary Wheel…Each of these pins tells a

unique Rotary story!

What is the story behind the Rotary wheel

pin?



2

The first lapel pin in the history of the

Rotary was designed and made by New

York Rotary Club member, John Frick on

October 14, 1909 and worn by the club’s

first president Bradford Bullock from 1909

until his premature death in 1911 (At the

time, he was serving as VP of the National

Association of Rotary Clubs). The

forerunner of the traditional Rotary pin

worn today, it features the Rotary wheel

has it appeared in its earliest representation

with eight spokes, no cogs, and no

keyway.

The wheel itself became the symbol of

Rotary in 1906, a year after the club’s

formation in Chicago. Asked to design a

symbol for the new club, Chicago Rotarian

Montague Bear, an engraver, drew a

simple wagon wheel with a few lines to

show dust and motion (14 spokes, no cogs,

no keyway). Paul Harris reasoned that the

wheel symbolized "Civilization and

Movement." One observant Rotarian

pointed out that a wheel would not

generate clouds of dust in front of it, so

Montague removed the offending cloud

and that design remained the emblem for

Chicago until 1912.

When new clubs formed, they adopted the

wheel in symbols of their own. Our club

integrated the New York wheel and an oak

tree as our symbol. It appears on the top of

our first Live Oak newsletter in 1914.

In 1910, the Rotary Club of Philadelphia

added cogs to create a working wheel,

symbolizing members working together,

literally interlocked with one another to

achieve the organization's objectives. They

used 19 cogs in honor of their club, the

19th in Rotary. They created hundreds of

metal pins with this design and

successfully pitched it as the new official

international wheel in 1912. It didn’t hurt

that the president of the Philadelphia club

[who had designed that club's emblem]

became president of the International

Association of Rotary Clubs at the 1912

Duluth convention.

In 1918, two Rotarian engineers from the

Duluth Club Charles Henry Mackintosh

and Oscar Bjorge (formally of Minnesota)

petitioned Rotary to amend the design of

the wheel. They argued that a cogwheel

with 19 cogs would not work. Also, the

emblem had square-cornered teeth of

disproportionate size, and the cogs were

irregularly spaced. Charles called it, “An

anachronism to engineers.” Oscar called it

"an insult to engineering that only the

brain of an artist could conceive." Oscar

sketched a new wheel, with 6 spokes

(symbolizing the 6 Objects of Rotary at

that time) and 24 cogs or teeth. This design

was presented to the Rotary world in 1920.

However, there remained many versions of

the Rotary wheel in use around the world

by the different clubs. The Oakland Club

was still using its 1914 wheel and oak tree

in 1922. It wasn’t until 1922 that the

Rotary International Association declared

that all Rotary clubs should adopt a single

design as the exclusive emblem of

Rotarians. But, before the approval of

Charles and Oscar’s gear wheel, the

President of Rotary Club of Los Angeles,

Will Forker submitted one change: “The

‘hub’ design of the new ‘wheel’ is that of

an ‘idler’ wheel or gear, there being no

provision for the reception or transmission

of power to or from a shaft,” he argued.

But, he said, incorporating a keyway



3

would make the new wheel “a real

worker” Oscar and Charles heartily

agreed. So, in 1923 the keyway was added

and the design, which we see on our pins

was formally adopted as the official

Rotary International emblem.

Why wear a Rotary pin?

Reasons for wearing a pin varied: for

publicity of Rotary, for pride, for

acceptance and recognition, for the start of

easy conversation with other Rotarians

wherever you go. Wearing a Rotary

Fellowship pin shows a Rotarian’s

vocation, hobby or recreational interest.

Past RI President Bob Barth (1993-94,

from the Rotary Club of Aarau,

Switzerland) felt that a Rotary pin says this

about the wearer: “You can rely on me, I

am dependable, I am reliable, I give more

than I take, and I am available.”

References:

1. Webpage of Rotary Club of

Paramaribo Residence, Suriname, RI

District 7030.

2. Linda Parker Hamilton, Rotary Club

of Oakland, California, the third

oldest club in the world.

Rotary President-elect Sam F.

Owori dies

Rotary International President-elect Sam

F. Owori died unexpectedly on 13 July due

to complications from surgery. Sam was a

member of the Rotary Club Kampala,

Uganda, for 38 years.

“Rotary has become a way of life for me –

with the intrinsic value and core belief in

mutual responsibility and concern for one

another as a cornerstone,” Sam said when

he was nominated last year. “I feel

Rotary President-elect Sam F. Owori.

immense satisfaction knowing that through

Rotary, I’ve helped someone live better.”

Sam's term as Rotary’s 108th president

would have begun on 1 July 2018.

“Please remember Sam as the outstanding,

hardworking Rotarian he was,” said

Rotary International President Ian Riseley.

“In this difficult time, I ask you to keep his

wife, Norah, the Owori family, and Sam’s

millions of friends around the world in

your thoughts.”

Under Sam's leadership, the number of

clubs in Uganda swelled from nine to 89

over the course of 29 years.

Sam saw in Rotary members "an

incredible passion to make a difference,"

and wanted to "harness that enthusiasm

and pride so that every project becomes

the engine of peace and prosperity."

Sam was the chief executive officer of the

Institute of Corporate Governance of

Uganda, whose mission is to promote

excellence in corporate governance

principles and practice in the region by

2020. Previously, he was executive

director of the African Development Bank,

managing director of Uganda Commercial

Bank Ltd., and director of Uganda

Development Bank. He has also served as

corporate secretary of the Central Bank of

Uganda.



4

He served as member and chair of several

boards including FAULU (U) Ltd., (now

Opportunity Bank), the Uganda Heart

Institute, the Centre for African Family

Studies, Mulago Hospital Complex,

Mukono Theological College, and the

Kampala City Council.

Sam also was the vice chair of Hospice

Africa Uganda, and board member and

chair of the Audit Committee of PACE

(Programme for Accessible Health,

Communication, and Education) in

Uganda.

“Sam was a special person in so many

ways, and his unexpected death is a huge

loss to Rotary, his community, and the

world,” Riseley said. “We are establishing

details on plans to celebrate his life as they

become available.”

Rotary is establishing a memorial fund in

Sam's honor and will provide details soon.

Reference: www.rotary.org

MINUTES OF THE 2422nd

REGULAR

WEEKLY MEETING

OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF SOUTH

CALCUTTA, 18th

July 2017

The President called 2422th weekly

meeting of Rotary Club of south Calcutta

dist.3291 to order.

National Anthem sang together .

President L.H.Khan discussed with Rtn.

PP Subrata Ghosh and Rtn. Dr.Rajat

Mukherjee regarding Training and

plantation near the club with the help of

local club and that to be discussed in the

next meeting.

Rtn. PP Amit Kumar Sen agreed to donate

Rupees Ten Thousand (Rs.10,000) for the

cleanliness and plantation near the club.

President L.H.Khan announced the Happy

Birthday of Rtn. Dr.Ruma Das

President L.H.Khan confirmed the minutes

of last week and terminated the meeting.

Happy Birth Day (18th July 2017) to

Rtn. Dr. Ruma Das.

president: mr. l. h. khan editor: dr. kanyakumari datta vo...

Documents